England chose to bat after Joe Root won the toss in the first PayTM Test match against India in Chennai. It was a no-brainer as the pitch looks like a belter to bat on and would help the spinners on the Day 5 of the Test match. England started the game steadily with Burns and Sibley holding their ground for 23.5 overs. The score was 63 when Burns got out playing an unusual reverse-sweep to R Ashwin. It was a needless shot to play at that time as England were looking rock solid on a pitch that was not offering anything to the bowlers. As the English batsman moved on slowly with the game, it became increasingly frustrating for the home team. But Rishab Pant’s chatter from behind the stumps kept the fans entertained throughout the first session.
The stump mic has become increasingly vulnerable to some funny one-liners and sledging done by wicket-keepers around the world. Rishabh Pant is also known for making sly comments on batsmen to rattle them and try to stump them psychologically. When R Ashwin came on to bowl as a first change, Rishabh Pant got active behind the stumps. The stump mic picked up all the funny conversations that Rishabh Pant had. Pant wanted Ashwin to bowl outside the off-stump to the left handed Burns, thus, to encourage him he said: “Idhar se badhiya hai, Udhar se phasega to maza aaega” (It will be fun to see him get trapped from that side)
‘Chalo yaar, Dheele nahin’ (Come on guys, no loose moments), ‘Koi dikkat nahi hai’ (There’s no problem), ‘Sidha rakho Ash bhai’ (Keep it straight, Ash) were some of the many things uttered by Pant behind the stumps. Look at what Twitterati had to say on Pant's comments:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a >#INDvENG</a><br>No one - <br><br>Rishabh Pant *behind the stumps* - <a >pic.twitter.com/0KA7Chv5zK</a></p>— Sassy_Naari (@sassy_naari) <a >February 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Rishabh Pant's role would be important in home Test... "<br><br>"To keep viewers glued with his constant chatter behind the stumps." <a >#INDvENG</a></p>— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) <a >February 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The commentators should stop commentating as soon as an Indian spinner comes onto bowl and <a >#RishabhPant</a> is behing the stumps. The wicketkeeper from Delhi just keeps chirping from behind which is fun to watch and listen. <a >#INDvENG</a> <a >@StarSportsIndia</a> <a >@BCCI</a></p>— Anubhav Srivastava (@imAnubhavS) <a >February 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Really liking Rishabh Pant's encouragement from behind the stumps.<a >#Cricket</a> <a >#India</a> <a >#EngvsInd</a></p>— Broken Cricket Dreams Blog (@cricket_broken) <a >February 5, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
When Ashwin asked Pant to step back a little, he said, “Nahin, mai aise pressure bana raha hu” (No, I am creating pressure like this). Pant continued even when Shahbaz Nadeem came on to bowl, he encouraged him to bowl at the stumps. We will hear a lot from Pant as there are going to be three spinners operating at most of the times throughout the Test match. A session which looked going very much England’s way, India bounced back towards the end with back to back wickets to Ashwin and Bumrah. England’s score is at 67-2 at lunch on Day 1. What will be the score at the end of Day’s play?